So, for Personal Injury Protection, which is mandatory in Oregon auto policies, and optional in Washington auto policies, you will receive a claims form, and a release to obtain medical and wage information. Fill out these forms to get disability and medical benefits. When asked about how the collision occurred, keep it simple. This is your insurance company working to provide you benefits.

Liability adjusters from the other driver's insurance company will also send wage and medical release forms. Do not fill these out. Shred them. At one point, you may want to provide the liability adjuster with documentation of your claim, but do not give them the ability to poke around your medical history, especially for things that have absolutely nothing to do with your injuries. If you have ever really read those releases, you will see that they are very broad, and this does nothing to help your case.

The same goes for other forms, like a form asking for a list of your doctors, or anything that asks for a description of the collision.

If you have questions about this or any other issue on your case, call our office at 503-325-8600. We deal with these issues every day.